August 15, 2011

Roasted Green Tea (Hojicha)

Yay!

My first cup of long awaited tea after this week of tea deprivation! I chose hojicha (roasted green tea) I bought from a Japanese shop in Brooklyn. The mug is from Dado Tea, a marvelous tea cafe in Central Square, Cambridge, MA.

My doctor, while warning me that tea can exacerbate GERD, agrees tea is a healthy drink. I like that he understands my tea affection (affliction) and is not outright banning it for my diet, encouraging me to explore strategies (more herbals, green teas, etc.).

After my first cup, I feel slight FIT, and a small bit of heartburn -- but I've had these issues without the tea all week. So…

The FIT is almost chronic -- very subtle, but I can tell it's there. Tea or no tea. Same for the heartburn. Honestly, the heartburn is a new thing for me -- I *never* had heartburn until after my upper endoscopy! Now it comes a few times a week. Sometimes I can tie it to eating (too much, or too spicy foods).

Green tea and puehr don't bother me but I know what you mean about tea and nausea -- sometimes black tea bugs me, particularly on an empty stomach, as well.

What is Cranky G?

I have been diagnosed with gastroparesis -- "slow stomach emptying." In other words, things don't move as quickly as they should. Side effects include GERD, constipation, bloating and nausea. (I was first diagnosed with "GERD," so I named this blog in honor of the situation. These days, I think of it as Cranky G, for all of my cranky gastro issues, which include some GERD symptoms.) While my GI journey is the focus, I do include other topics here and there which may be of interest, and because we are more than our GI tracts! :)